Tessa's Recipe Rundown
Taste: Fresh, vibrant, and tangy lemon balanced with a sweet glaze.
Texture: Soft and tender inside with tall, domed tops and slightly crisp edges.
Ease: Simple mixing method, no mixer or special equipment required!
Why you’ll love this recipe: The quickest and easiest way to turn your kitchen into a fancy cafe.
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Most lemon poppy seed muffins fall into one of two camps: ultra tall and pretty but dry. Or, moist yet flat. I wanted both.
After multiple test batches, I found the sweet spot comes down to three things: a slightly higher bake temperature, a mix of butter and oil, and letting the batter rest (just for 15 minutes!) before baking.
The result? Muffins that rise high with a soft, almost plush crumb and actually taste like lemon without any funky ingredients.
Recipe Ingredients
Muffins are simple, so each ingredient packs a powerful punch.
All-Purpose Flour: Measured correctly (preferably by weight). Too much flour = dense and rubbery muffins.
Buttermilk: This is key for tenderness and flavor. The buttermilk acidity prevents too much gluten formation and the thick texture creates taller muffins. Use plain kefir as 1:1 substitute.
Butter + Oil (Important!): Butter brings flavor, while oil keeps the muffins soft for longer. In testing, using only butter made the muffins slightly drier the next day. Use any neutral oil (vegetable, avocado, etc.).
Baking Powder: This recipe uses a full tablespoon for strong lift. If you’re at altitude, you may need to reduce the measurement slightly.
Lemon Zest + Juice: Zest is where the real flavor lives! The icing contains both juice and zest for maximum lemon flavor, so don’t skip it. You’ll need about 4 medium lemons total (I always buy more in case I’m stuck with a dry lemon).
Poppy Seeds: Always check freshness. If they smell stale or oily, they’ll taste that way in the muffins. I learned this the hard way!
Almond Extract (Optional): In addition to the vanilla, a tiny amount of almond extract enhances the lemon flavor without making the muffins taste almondy. I highly recommend trying it!
How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Step by Step)
Mix dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt.
Add wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet.
Stir gently to combine. The batter will be slightly lumpy. Don’t overmix.
Rest the batter. If time permits, allow the batter to sit for 15-20 minutes so it thickens slightly for taller muffins.
Fill muffin tin. Line every other cavity with liners and fill completely full for tall muffins. Use two tins, or bake in batches, cooling tin between bakes.
Bake. For 18-19 minutes, or until the edges are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Make the glaze. Whisk together powdered sugar and lemon juice until a thick icing forms. It should fall off the whisk in ribbons.
Glaze. Using a spoon, pour icing over cooled muffins.
Garnish with lemon zest. This isn’t only pretty, but adds extra lemon flavor!
Tessa’s Tips for Taller Muffins
- Fill your muffin tin cavities completely full with batter. This will result in taller muffins with more pronounced muffin tops (and those slightly crisp edges!).
- Space out your muffins. Fill only every other cavity with muffin batter. This is done most easily with two muffin tins. This allows extra room for the muffins to rise tall, as well as enough air flow to cook the muffins more evenly.
- Rest your batter for at least 15 minutes before baking. You can do this in the mixing bowl or in the muffin tin. Rest up to overnight, covered.
Sprinkle of Science
While the batter rests, the starches in the flour have time to absorb more liquid. This thickens the batter without adding extra flour, allowing the muffins to rise higher without creating a drier or denser texture.
This also allows the baking powder to activate to aerate the batter. It’s double acting, meaning it activates once when exposed to liquid, and again with the heat of the oven.
Storage & Make ahead
Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days. To make ahead, mix the batter and refrigerate overnight, then bake straight from the fridge.
Freezing Instructions
Freeze unglazed muffins for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature. Glaze after thawing for best texture.
Test Kitchen Notes
The first version of this recipe was published in 2012, then revamped and updated in 2020. Recently, in 2026, I decided to make the recipe and felt underwhelmed by the results.
I’ve learned a lot in just 6 years, so I began testing out some tweaks to achieve taller, more flavorful muffins without sacrificing a soft and tender texture.
1. Adjusting Ratios
I increased the flour and sugar slightly for better structure, as well as switching to buttermilk for better flavor and height, and adding more lemon zest. Lastly, a touch of oil alongside the melted butter helped create a tender texture that stays soft for longer.
2. Baking Temperatures
Next up I experimented with baking temperatures. The key to tall muffins is a high temperature, but I didn’t want the edges to burn!
3. Resting Batter
The original recipe recommended an overnight rise, so my recipe tester experimented with resting intervals and we learned we really only needed a 15-minute rest (but an overnight rise works too if you want to prep ahead).
Frequently Asked Questions
Fill the muffin cups completely full, fill every other cavity, and let the batter rest before baking. These three steps create a thicker batter and better heat circulation, which leads to higher domes.
Yes, but your muffins won’t rise as tall. Even 15 minutes makes a noticeable difference in height and texture. Which is about the time it takes to preheat the oven and clean up!
The best substitute is plain kefir. Adding lemon juice or vinegar to milk just doesn’t have the same effect but can work in a pinch if you’re out of options.
Overmixing is the most common cause. Stir just until combined, lumps are okay. Too much flour or expired baking powder can also lead to dense muffins.
Yes! Bake and store for up to 2 days, or freeze without glaze for longer storage. You can also mix the batter and refrigerate overnight, then bake straight from the fridge.
Yep, just omit them! The muffins will still have great flavor.
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Ingredients
For the muffins:
- 2 1/4 cups (286 grams) all-purpose flour,
measured correctly - 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds*
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup (240 grams) buttermilk, at room temperature
- 1 stick (113 grams) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil (such as avocado or canola)
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon zest**
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon almond extract, optional
For the lemon glaze:
- 1 cup (125 grams) powdered sugar, sifted
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- Lemon zest, for garnish**
Instructions
Make the muffins:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line two standard muffin tins with 9 paper liners, spacing them in every other cavity to allow for air flow and larger muffin tops.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, cooled melted butter, oil, eggs, lemon zest, juice, vanilla extract, and almond extract (if using). Pour into the dry ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined.
- If time permits, rest the batter at room temperature for 15 to 20 minutes to encourage taller muffin tops. You can also chill this batter, covered, overnight in the fridge. Bake from the fridge.
- Fill each muffin liner completely full with batter. The batter should mound slightly above the rim.
- Bake until the edges are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 18 to 19 minutes. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Make the glaze:
- In a small bowl, stir together the powdered sugar and lemon juice until a smooth, thick glaze forms. Drizzle or dip the cooled muffins. Top with lemon zest. If transporting or storing, let the glaze set beforehand.
- Serve immediately, or store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days. Muffins can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2012 and updated in 2026 with recipe improvements, new photos, and more baking tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Oh my goodness! These are delicious and so easy! I was skeptical because: 1. No yogurt for moisture and 2. I was worried they’d stick to the muffin cups because it doesn’t call for spraying the cups first. I am so glad I followed the recipe as written because they are perfect! I read some of the comments about not being sweet enough, I think they are plenty sweet, as does my 7 year old. This will be our new go-to, as we love lemon baked goods! Thank you 🙂
PS I didn’t add lemon extract, just used the called for fresh lemon juice and zest. I also just chilled the batter for about 2-3 hours and the muffins are super light and fluffy with the perfect touch of crunch on top.
Hi Marta! I’m so happy you loved these muffins – and that your son loves them, too!! Happy baking 🙂
I’m trying to find the video of the lemon poppy seed muffins cuz I have a question what to do
What to do with the icing sugar and lemon juice
Hi Patricia! Apologies for the confusion. We do not have a video for every recipe, unfortunately. We are in the process of updating our recipe templates, so recipes without a video will no longer show this option. To answer your question, the icing sugar and lemon juice are the ingredients for the glaze! Simply mix in a small bowl with a fork until a thick, smooth glaze forms, and drizzle or dip the top of each cooled muffin with the glaze. Let set before serving. I hope that helps 🙂
I made these muffins today and they are absolutely awesome. I followed your recipe to the T, and also added lemon extract, and refrigerated overnight. They are popping with flavor. Thanks for a fabulous recipe.
These were some of the best muffins I’ve ever made and had! They were so nice and fluffy with the right amount of sweetness and lemon flavor. Also do not skip letting the batter sit overnight, I really think it made that much of a difference!! Also super easy to make and come together!
Happy you enjoyed this recipe, Thalia!
Thanks for the easy-to-follow recipe and tips. The muffins turned out yummy and tall.
These muffins were delicious, light and lemony. Ever since I’ve read your tips on the perfect muffins I haven’t had any problems with my baked goods. I didn’t want to wait overnight to bake these so I put the batter in the fridge for about 4 hrs, then baked. They came out looking like they were made in a bakery!
They came out to be great. Thanks for this amazing recipe Tessa!
Hey.. I made these just today. Kept the batter in the fridge overnight. They look amazing. Tall and soft. But I feel they are not lemon-y enough. Infact I added a little more zest + lemon extract to the batter. Still I could hardly taste the lemon.. Any thoughts on why that would be or what I could do next time?
Hi Kanika! Just to confirm, did you also use the original 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice in your muffins? Or did you only use lemon extract and zest? Tessa does suggest adding 1/2 teaspoon of lemon extract along with the juice and zest if you want ever more lemon flavor in your muffins. I hope that helps!
I feel like this has to be a negative-comments-get-deleted sort of blog, because this recipe is… fine. The muffins turned out and look great, but they’re not sweet enough and kind of bland. Also, the advice to chill muffin batter overnight is pretty puzzling. Baking powder works immediately by interacting with liquids. It’s going to lose its effectiveness if you let it sit overnight.
Thanks for your feedback! Baking soda works immediately, whereas baking powder is double acting, meaning that it reacts twice- once when added to liquid, and a second time when it hits the heat of the oven. Because this recipe has both, you may lose just a little bit of browning on the muffins while they bake after chilling overnight, but thanks to the baking powder, you’ll still achieve that lift. I hope that helps! You can find out even more details in this article here on How to Bake Tall Bakery Style Muffins.
These muffins are great! Not too sweet, and easy to make. I added 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Was going to add almond extract but I was out! I refrigerated the dough overnight, and was impressed with the outcome. 20 minutes was a bit too long in my oven. I will be making these again and using the tips!
So happy you loved this recipe, Erika!
Can I use 2% milk instead of whole milk?
We haven’t tried that as we prefer whole milk for the best flavor, though other readers have had success 🙂
Tessa at it again with this AMAZING muffin recipe. I’ve never let muffin batter sit overnight but I read Tessa’s post and explanation, and have seen others also suggest the benefits of letting muffin batter “marinate” overnight. Pro: these muffins turned out SO well. Besides the batter being almost too easy to make, letting the batter refrigerate overnight produced moist, fluffy and tall muffins! No flat hat ones. Con: I will now have to wait overnight before making other muffins again… like with cookie dough this time in the fridge really does yield a better end product. But guess its worth it! And it was really nice waking up, and only having to divide the batter into liners and 20 minutes later having oven fresh muffins first thing.
I love following your blog, Instagram and baking your recipes – knock on wood but I haven’t had a “dud” yet. Now i must find the willpower not to eat all 12 muffins… 1.5 are already missing …
Aw yay!! So happy to hear how much you love this recipe! And I’m so glad that you tried marinating the batter overnight too, it really makes a difference! Feel free to freeze some of the extra muffins in an airtight container so you can enjoy them for longer (if there’s any leftover!) 🙂